PC gaming has broken my heart!

[paperfist]

I used to love it so much! I could spend unfathomable amounts of hours playing Dark Age of Camelot, my family contemplating intervention. Sink months into Medal of Honor knowing the maps better than the streets I live near. Pretend I was a real mayor in Sim City and have to tear down 'neighborhoods' for the good of the city's burgeoning growth.

Julius Caesar would toy with me sending his chariots a wee bit too close to my borders. The next 40 hours would not go toward a paycheck, but toward removing him from the map. Seriously, just one more turn.

Now I don't know what disease I have caught. The doctors say I'm fine, but I can feel that I am not. Back then I think I had a 15" monitor, single processor barely cracking a GHz and a video card that was probably $50. Today SSD drives and the latest and greatest CPU/GPUs at my feet and I view what they produce on the 3 monitors that sit in front of me. But instead of them being filled with the carnage of a FPS I have this forum open up one 1, Outlook on another and and this bloody game on the last: http://agar.io/

On Steam I have recently purchased:
Cities: Skylines
Banished
Galactic Civ 3
Civ: Beyond Earth
Shadow of Mordor
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
and a few others.

I have like 20 hours into all of them. For some reason games like this: http://twenty.frenchguys.net/# and the above mentioned http://agar.io/ suck me in to no end.

Have any of you fallen into this hole and if so how do you get out?

 

[escrow4]

I'd rather throw my PC out the window instead of playing an RTS or puzzle game or city building snooze fest. Give a good RPG a shot like the Witcher series.

 

[Rhezuss]

I tend to agree with you OP, games are not what they were back in the days, but we're not either.

Back then, the only stuff we had to think of was doing homework and mow the lawn for $10 when asked to lol.

Now we work, have families and other stuff that push us away from our PCs/consoles.

I remember when I was in architecture school on a sunday afternoon and I had to finish a homework due for the next monday. Instead i'd launch Baldur's Gate and play the hell out of this until almost too late. Then I had to kick me in the butt to start this freaking homework...but at 11pm it was tough lol.

Times are changing and it's not a bad thing.

 

[ControlD]

I have a hard time getting into the most of the newer AAA titles. Some like Borderlands can still suck me in but I tend to find myself playing things like Dungeons of Dredmor and TOME4 over and over . I sometimes wonder why I keep my hardware up to date when I rarely utilize even a fraction of that horsepower.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I have a hard time getting into the most of the newer AAA titles. Some like Borderlands can still suck me in but I tend to find myself playing things like Dungeons of Dredmor and TOME4 over and over . I sometimes wonder why I keep my hardware up to date when I rarely utilize even a fraction of that horsepower.

Same here my Q9650 runs everything I want to play. Star Citizen is what will likely make me upgrade.

 

[Gryz]

You have to be very selective. Don't buy every game that you think might be fun. Only buy a game when you are 99% sure that you'll play it. And that you will finish it.

And sometimes you have to admit defeat. Admit that a game is not for you. I really really wanted to play the Dark Souls games. I like fantasy. The setting, the world, the artwork, the lore, all seem great. But the gameplay just sucks. Controls are unmanageable, no matter how I tweak my input devices. Respawning mobs are retarded. The clunky UI is like sticking needles in your eyes. Some of the design-decisions were made just to **REMOVED** with you. The lack of any efforts to adjust the graphics for PC was insulting. No thanks. The game was just not fun to play.

On the other end of the spectrum we have The Witcher 3 and GTA V. Two outstanding games. Both are better than any game since 2011 (Skyrim). By far. Both are open world games, where you can sink in hours and hours and hours. With great graphics. Open world and graphics, the 2 features I like best in games. Life couldn't be better for a gamer this month.




No cursing in PC Gaming.

Anandtech Administrator
KeithTalent

 

[Sulaco]

If you're paying full price or near full price and have this issue, than you're making a mistake, probably.

If you're buying games on sale, that often mitigates the "Doh! Why'd I buy that game! I'm not really getting into it!" feeling of regret you are bound to experience with certain titles from time to time.

For STEAM sales, I'll often buy a handful of games I'm moderately to extremely interested in at 50-80% off, so even if one just fails to capture me, I have the satisfaction of knowing I gave it an honest try, without having paid much at all.

 

[BSim500]

Have any of you fallen into this hole and if so how do you get out?

I stopped buying high-end GFX cards cards for same reason : Hardware requirements & eye candy doesn't = funness. Games have indeed changed over time. Your tastes will change from decade to decade as well. Personally, I've been bored silly with the same overly formulaic, overly consolized, overly sequelled (and overly rebooted) AAA "franchises" over the past couple of years, and spend more & more time replaying "Golden Oldies". My purchase ratio's in the 90's / early 2000's used to be typically 10:1 AAA:Indie. Today the ratio is nearer 1:15, and "gameplay time" is 75% old replays / 25% new games.

There's only really one golden rule for PC gaming : If you're having fun, there's simply no 'hole' to climb out of.

 

[Arcadio]

or city building snooze fest.

Cities Skylines is an amazing game. Best game of the year so far.

 

[norseamd]

http://twenty.frenchguys.net/#

Hate you very much.

14.

 

[Subyman]

I think the OP has changed. You need to branch out into other hobbies. Don't expect to fill all your leisure time with only one thing, you will get burnt out and potentially depressed/bored. Games are a great form of entertainment, but they are not a very rewarding activity.

 

[norseamd]

I think the OP has changed. You need to branch out into other hobbies. Don't expect to fill all your leisure time with only one thing, you will get burnt out and potentially depressed/bored. Games are a great form of entertainment, but they are not a very rewarding activity.

Buy 500 acres and spend all day drinking around giant bonfires and shooting off fireworks, explosives, and guns.

 

[ImpulsE69]

You have to be very selective. Don't buy every game that you think might be fun. Only buy a game when you are 99% sure that you'll play it. And that you will finish it.

There is almost zero way to know this. I have found over time specific game types I simply know I will play for awhile and never go back to, so I tend to avoid them, however you just never know if a game will suck you in or not until after you start playing it. I've played through some games I never thought I would simply on an a 'it's on sale' impulse buy.

Reading reviews just doesn't cut it, because entertainment is such a personal experience. This is also why 99% of the time I will not pay retail for games. There is much less remorse over spending $1-15 for a game that you didn't do much with as opposed to spending $60 for every game the day it comes out. The downside to this is I tend to buy more games so the backlog fills.

GTAV is a good example of a game I know I won't play, no matter how pretty it is. I have never actually enjoyed or played a GTA game for very long.

 

[paperfist]

I tend to agree with you OP, games are not what they were back in the days, but were not either.

Back then, the only stuff we had to think of was doing homework and mow the lawn for $10 when asked to lol.

Now we work, have families and other stuff that push us away from our PCs/consoles.

I remember when I was in architecture school on a sunday afternoon and I had to finish a homework due for the next monday. Instead i'd launch Baldur's Gate and play the hell out of this until almost too late. Then I had to kick me in the butt to start this freaking homework...but at 11pm it was tough lol.

Times are changing and it's not a bad thing.

Yeah that about sums it up for me. I feel like games aren't what they used to be either, but somehow still feel like I'm missing out. They all can't be crap.

 

[paperfist]

I have a hard time getting into the most of the newer AAA titles. Some like Borderlands can still suck me in but I tend to find myself playing things like Dungeons of Dredmor and TOME4 over and over . I sometimes wonder why I keep my hardware up to date when I rarely utilize even a fraction of that horsepower.

Glad I'm in the same boat. Contemplating doing another build to replace my 2 year old system. Not sure why though. Habit I guess lol.

 

[mikeymikec]

Despite its flaws I've clocked over 300 hours on XCOM: Enemy Unknown, probably more for StarCraft 2.

I'm replaying Populous 2 via Amiga emulation atm

 

[paperfist]

I stopped buying high-end GFX cards cards for same reason : Hardware requirements & eye candy doesn't = funness. Games have indeed changed over time. Your tastes will change from decade to decade as well. Personally, I've been bored silly with the same overly formulaic, overly consolized, overly sequelled (and overly rebooted) AAA "franchises" over the past couple of years, and spend more & more time replaying "Golden Oldies". My purchase ratio's in the 90's / early 2000's used to be typically 10:1 AAA:Indie. Today the ratio is nearer 1:15, and "gameplay time" is 75% old replays / 25% new games.

There's only really one golden rule for PC gaming : If you're having fun, there's simply no 'hole' to climb out of.

I think you're right. I have the same 'issue' with music. Can't find anything I like anymore. Can't even tolerate new stuff that I'm not accustom to try as I might.

I have been enjoying old games like Colonization that I used to play back in the day.

 

[paperfist]

Hate you very much.

14.

Haha sorry! I'm up to 19. No bloody way to get to 20 I believe unless you're a machine!

 

[norseamd]

Yeah that about sums it up for me. I feel like games aren't what they used to be either, but somehow still feel like I'm missing out. They all can't be crap.

Nope.

Mount and Blade and KSP are some very good games to play that were made in this current era.

Also try Tabletop Simulator.

 

[Zodiark1593]

Take up 3d art or something of the sort. Gaming PCs are quite ideal for running something like Blender and that would certainly make use of all 3 monitors.

 

[xantub]

I've been playing computer games since I was like 17 years old (that would be 1986). 29 years later and I'm playing just as much if not more. The type of games I play now are very different from what I used to play though, but still. Now I'm mostly playing Grand Strategy games (Crusader Kings 2, Europa Universalis 4, and a bit of Victoria 2).

 

[Stringjam]

Take up 3d art or something of the sort. Gaming PCs are quite ideal for running something like Blender and that would certainly make use of all 3 monitors.

This is a valid suggestion. Get a good SDK and some modeling software and go to town. It can be a blast.

It's a real time-sink though (I remember the first thing I modeled was a basic chair prop - and I spent an entire weekend getting the thing to look right). I started getting into it with a student license for Autodesk 3DSMax and Cryengine, but real life just had too many responsibilities to get anywhere with it.

If I didn't have a real job, I would play with that stuff all day long.

If anything, it gives you a real appreciation of the level of skill and time it takes to actually put together even a very basic, short game - or how hard it is to create a big map and fill it with content (and get it to run well and look good at the same time).

 

[clok1966]

Age is not fun, your priorities change and you no longer feel ok with people picking up with you on your mistakes (not doing something because of all night gaming). I still like most games but hate that my reactions are crap now (was hardcore FPS online player in my younger days). So i stick with Strategy and really enjoy the sim building games (not the actual SIM CITY stuff, but the indy ones). games Like Skyrim are now my "cup of tea" not so much the gameplay, but the vast area to explore with a new temple, cave, etc to find. I am really hurting for a new Fallout or Elder scrolls game right now.
My steam account games with huge hours has LFD2 (like teamwork, to bad hardly anybody else does), Towns (sim building game that is almost hated by all) and Banished (more city building, try get to 500 or so people for more then a few years).

and yet i have over 900 games on it.. sad... being an adult has not taught me how to mange my disposable income i guess.

 

[StinkyPinky]

Your tastes probably changed. I'm 35, going on 36. Back when I was 13-20 or so I preferred more shooting or RTS games, but now I really can't stand them. Especially RTS games....god they are boring to me.

The only games I really enjoy these days are role playing games or fps/rpg hybrids and the Civ games. The only game outside of that genre that I've enjoyed in recent years was the xcom game.

 

[Artorias]

Have you tried management simulators like Football(European) Manager? Or just simulators in general like Euro Truck Simulator etc.

While I still play a variety of games, the bulk of my time in between going through my backlog is one multiplayer(TF2) and a simulator(Football Manager).

Perhaps you are burned out? Maybe take a break from games in general and come back to playing after a few months.